The End of the Affair?

[homemoz]

Well, after months of ploughing the busy main road between Beverley & Willerby in rain, wind, sleet and rain, I finally met my nemesis on Tuesday morning at 9.40 am. Ironically, on the quietest piece of road you can imagine.

One minute breezing along in the sun with the open road ahead and a solitary slow moving car coming towards me. The next flat on my back surrounded by paramedics before being whisked off to Hull Royal Infirmary with concussion and a fractured cheekbone. Although, I have no memory of what happened, according to two witnesses who saw the accident, I cycled straight into a descending road barrier which separates the public stretch of road from a private stretch near Willerby. The barrier broke a chunk out of my helmet and knocked my off the bike.

Why I would cycle into a descending barrier is anyone's guess. The most likely explanation was that when I looked down the road, the barrier was up due to the car passing through. As it descended, I was riding into the sun and the barrier was outside my line of vision. Either that or I was on another planet. The saving grace of the story are the two witnesses who stayed with me till the ambulance came, made sure all my stuff was safe & one has even put the bike in safe storage at his house. The NHS staff right through the day were also great!

Has this affected my re-kindled affair with all things cycling (and especially electric bikes)?. One one level, yes, the trust has been shaken and perhaps some of the belief that cycling is a great thing to do. Only time will tell whether the relationship has been permanently damaged. I have to say that I hope not, but it is going to take time, especially since it is likely to be a few weeks before I can even venture on a cycle again.

One thing I was grateful for, is that I was wearing a helmet. I know there are pros & cons, but in this case the helmet made the difference between me being able to sit here & post this message. The next one I buy will be the best I can afford.

Well, thats it - really just wanted to tell the tale, both the bad about the accident, and the good about the kindness of all the people who stopped to help. Hopefully, it won't be long before I can start reading the forums and scouring e-bay with the same enthusiasm as before (although perhaps with a little less evangelical zeal)!

 

[Larkspur]

Hi Homemoz,

Really sorry to hear about your accident. All the best for a speedy recovery.

Regards Chris

 

[flecc]

Also very sorry to hear of this misfortune.

You're probably right about the sun reducing your upper vision, but there's also the factor of what one expects. On the road we watch ahead and to both sides, but traffic or pedestrian danger from above just isn't factored into our thinking, which would predispose to a slower reaction to anything so unexpected. It's probably why trees and branches falling onto the road so often have very serious consequences.
.

 

[homemoz]

Thank you both for your replies. I'm sure you're right flecc about the effect of expectation on awareness. I had thought that because it was so unexpected, the brain hadn't factored in the barrier as a potential danger. I'm sure that will be different in future.

I have to go into hospital on Monday for an op to reset the cheekbone & then a couple of weeks recuperation time. Just hope the weather stays so good!

 

[flecc]

All the best for Monday Homeoz, hope the treatment goes well and painlessly.

This midday's forecast was very confident about the current weather continuing into next week. Still the odd isolated shower around as before, but temperatures staying well above average and plenty of sunshine, so it could well last for you.
.

 

[rooel]

Sorry to hear about this, but if you have access to free legal assistance eg through your trade union or the CTC, seek advice regarding compensation from the owner of the descending barrier. You would have to prove negligence on the part of the owner, and that would depend on all the facts and circumstances, but even if you were partly to blame for the collision, you could still receive compensation, reduced by an element measurable in proportion to your own contributory negligence.

This is nothing to do with "compensation culture": we have a duty to each other to take a rigorous stand with regard to anyone who is responsible in whole or in part for injury or loss suffered by vulnerable road users.

 

[Cyclezee]

Homeoz,
Very sorry to hear about your accident and wishing you a speedy recovery.
2 points I would like to make, firstly as a member of a 'Max Fac' team, it's so nice to hear someone being positive about NHS treatment. Little comments like this make a huge difference to staff moral.
Secondly, why does every accident have to be somebody’s fault these days and who benefits most from this blame culture, the unfortunate 'victim' or the legal profession? Is it not still possible to have a pure and simple accident without it being negligence, malicious intent or a criminal act?

John

 

[Citrus]

Are you a Maxillo-Facial surgeon Aldby? That might explain why you can afford 22 ebikes in one year - only joking by the way.

 

[homemoz]

interesting comments on compensation. I guess my position is that I failed to notice the barrier coming down even though it has warning signs etc on it. However, I wonder if these barriers could be made safer through the use of sensors or similar. I had to complete an accident form, as the journey was on work-related business (I also work for the NHS, which is what made my experience on the other side of things so welcome).

The car driver has also said that he will take the issue of safety up with the owners of the private road. He did mention that it wasn't the first time that it had happened, but I didn't press him for details. For now, that's how I'm happy to leave things. If our health and safety people do find that there is a safety problem with the barrier, then it becomes a different issue.

On a brighter note, the bike was returned this morning - unbelievably, not a mark on it! Wish the same could be said for me. Also noticed that I have now been promoted to "member". Hadn't realised that this is what you had to do to get there. Hate to think what it is to achieve the status of senior member. Hopefully, back on the forum next week.

John

 

[rooel]

I think Homemoz should have look at the following tragic example of what can happen when road barriers are not maintained or operated in a safe manner:

My kids have lost their dad, Asda got a £225,000 fine.. where is the justice in that? - Mirror.co.uk

And how many car owners have had to claim compensation when a barrier at the exit or entrance to a car park has unexpectedly descended on the car roof before they have cleared it?

In the current case under discussion it seems possible that the barrier automatically rose to allow the passage of the oncoming car, and then descended because it failed to detect the cyclist approaching from the other side. That suggests an unsafe system and negligence on the part of the barrier owner.

Some incidents are pure accidents attributable to no human cause and therefore not amenable to a compensation claim (eg a lightening strike while riding one's electric bike across a blasted heath), but most are the result of reckless, careless, or unintelligent behaviour. I can appreciate that the victims, recovering from injury, may at first be reluctant to take on the additional tribulation of pursuing a claim, but the rest of us have to thank those who do for the safety improvements which industrialists, landowners, highway authorities, etc etc have been forced to implement thanks to the courts attributing blame.

There is no merit in the rather priggish approach of some (usually not, or not yet, victims) that there is something reprehensible in claiming compensation where injury or death has occurred thanks to another party's fault. We are all members of society, and should be prepared to compensate those who suffer as a result our negligence. Thanks to the availability of public liability insurance most of us are able to provide monetary recompense at least.

 

[flecc]

Also noticed that I have now been promoted to "member". Hadn't realised that this is what you had to do to get there. Hate to think what it is to achieve the status of senior member. Hopefully, back on the forum next week.

John

Imagine what I went through to get Guru.

Seriously, it's just on numbers of posts. When you reach 100 posts you will automatically be a senior member.
.

 

[homemoz]

I take your point rooel about the dangers of an unsafe and/or poorly maintained system. I will contact our health and safety people about the accident report & ask for the safety of the barrier to be checked out. I do have a concern about any possible injury to another person if a similar thing was to happen. The barrier is literally less than 100 yards from where I work, so shouldn't be too difficult to carry out a check even though it is protecting private land ( the route is a designated cycle path though).

Again, thanks for the replies.

 

[musicbooks]

Little comments like this make a huge difference to staff moral.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=black[/QUOTE]
Most days an immoral lot then John

Hope you make a speedy recovery homemoz.. I had a near accident today on the Agattu.. Off down to the offy to buy the nearest and dearest ( as in most expensive a bottle of her fav Chianti, some eejit opened their car door as I passed and an oncoming car was passing me. I swerved to avoid the door and missed the passing car by cms.. Car doors bother me.. I find that when I ride down my steep hill (at a pace) from work, I'd rather ride in the middle of the road and take my chances with impatient drivers than distracted drivers or passengers openeing their doors just as I pass.

Has anyone come a cropper in this manner.. whacked by an opening door?

They say that life flashes before your eyes before death.. I'd say its more like something stirs in your lower abdomine

In the end, it would seem we are all always about five seconds from certain death, and we just 'bounce' back from the brink..most of the time..

bw
musicbooks

 

[frank9755]

A near miss!

Being 'doored' is a constant worry while cycling in urban areas. It happened to me about 20 years ago - a white van opened his door right into my path and my handlebars hit the spine of his door. I was going slowly but was still thrown off, but not hurt.

Since then I've learned my lesson and always allow a 1 metre gap when passing parked cars. Some cycle lanes direct you down the door zone, but I always ride outside them and ignore cars who complain.

I had a near miss myself 6 months ago on Holland Park Avenue, going up hill. A woman opened her door but luckily I was far enough out that I wasn't hit, and was going slowly.

 

[frank9755]

I take your point rooel about the dangers of an unsafe and/or poorly maintained system. I will contact our health and safety people about the accident report & ask for the safety of the barrier to be checked out. I do have a concern about any possible injury to another person if a similar thing was to happen. The barrier is literally less than 100 yards from where I work, so shouldn't be too difficult to carry out a check even though it is protecting private land ( the route is a designated cycle path though).

Again, thanks for the replies.

Sorry to hear about a vey nasty accident and wish you a speedy recovery.

I hate those barriers too. I have to negotiate them getting in and out of the car park at work, and always watch them carefully.

I think others have made some good points. I just picked up on your comment above that the route is a designated cycle path. If it is a public right of way it does seem wrong that you should be chopped while using it! Whether you try to sue them or not, which is your prerogative, I think the owners of it do need to be made aware of this and the danger it might pose to other users.

 

[homemoz]

Just to update. I have written to my NHS manager voicing concerns about the possible safely aspects of the barrier and asking for a health & safety assessment can be carried out. The barrier divides NHS and private land and stems from when the land was sold off as a result of hospital closure. If the safety aspect can be approved then at least that will have been something worthwhile from this.

Regular cycling after a few years away has really opened my eyes to the general raw deal that cyclists get in the UK. For example, the partial cycle route by the Beverley to Willerby main road entails crossing the main road twice, and is generally covered in glass. As a rule it is rarely used, with cyclists preferring to use the main road itself. Riding in the gutter on poorly maintained roads also leaves a lot to be desired. Do I detect a slight sense of militancy creeping in!

Interestingly, our NHS Trust is starting a cycle to work scheme next week with 80 people registering interest so far. I guess the more cyclists there are, the more pressure there is to make improvements. Having said all that, on a decent day with no barriers and few cars, there is little to beat being out on the open road.

Anyway best to go & enjoy some of the sunshine, whilst it's here - albeit not on the bike (just yet anyway).

 

[homemoz]

Imagine what I went through to get Guru.

Seriously, it's just on numbers of posts. When you reach 100 posts you will automatically be a senior member.
.

Doesn't bear thinking about, flecc!

 

[homemoz]

Pleased to say, I'm now back at home again after repairs to the cheekbone and broken nose (which I didn't know about till I got to the ward!). NHS care very good which helped. Have to say that the nose is the straightest it's ever been in my life.

It will be a couple of weeks before I can think about riding the bike again and maybe a week or so before get back to work. Will make the most of the time enjoying the decent weather and seeing what gets posted on the forums. Someone described getting back on the bike rather like riding a pony after a fall & I guess that's a pretty good description. Thanks again to all those who offered me well-wishes after the accident. Good to be back on the mend again.

 

[tony18m2001]

Glad to see it looks like you have survived a nasty incident Homemoz. Barriers can be just as dangerous the other way - I had nasty incident with a car park barrier in Gibralter last year - I was carrying a couple of diving cylinders and had to duck under a car park barrier. I put the cylinders under the barrier prior to going round the other side to collect them. My head was over the barrier as I deposited the cylinders and it suddenly lifted so I found myself flat on my back with blood pouring from a cut lip - I got away lightly. I never found out whether the cylinders triggered the barrier, or a driver slid a card through a reader some distance back from the barrier, not realising I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next time I'll be very circumspect about barriers!

Tony